Always be
by Tashilover
Summary: The four friends Castiel didn't know he had.


"Sweet Jesus! What did you do to it?"

Castiel opened his mouth to tell her a goblin fell on top of him but then decided against it. Dean often warned him that telling the truth would only confuse and frightened people, and despite what Cas may think, it's better to lie. The angel chose to do neither and merely shrugged.

Cindy gave a low whistle and leaned over to take Cas' phone from him. He had to open his palms to allow the severed plastic pieces to fall into her cradled hands. Cindy pulled back, her face grimacing. "The horror," she muttered to herself.

"Can you fix it?"

Cindy gave off a rather sarcastic, "HA!" that strongly reminded Castiel of Dean. "Jim, your phone is fucked."

Castiel will never understand why humans will insist on shortening his name; when he first signed up for his phone, he did it under the guise of Jimmy Novak, since the companies demanded a last name. No one, not even Cindy, knew who he was or what he was, and yet the transition of giving him a nickname curiously had spread across the country.

Even more pressing, "Nobody had sex with it."

The girl threw her head back and laughed, giving Cas a full view of her pierced tongue. "Silly," she muttered, shaking her head. "I'm sorry Jim, but you need a new phone. Thankfully, your memory card was left intact, so all you need is a similar model. Is there a particular one you like?"

She waved to the displays inside of the store. Cas briefly looked over his shoulder, frowning at the numerous colors and shapes and sizes. Cindy smiled at him sympathetically. "Do you need help?"

She did not mind helping him when he first walked into her store, telling her he needed a phone to contact the saviors of the world. She simply smiled and nodded.

She was patient, she was kind, and it was because of her soft demeanor was why he preferred to get help from her over the other employees. She didn't give him a strange look when he told her the various reasons why he needed a new phone.

"Demons stole it."

"I fell over a waterfall and the electronics got wet."

"Dean said the color was, 'too gay.' "

Cindy always smiled and nodded, not questioning him at all. Castiel knew she had no relation to the supernatural and it always confused him how so many could stare at him with disbelief while she merely took it at face value.

She placed the memory card into the slot and turned on the phone. She gave the cell a quick look over and handed over to Cas, who took it with a grateful, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled warmly. "Until next time, Jim."

()

Castiel didn't know the true sense of hate until today. He knew he _hated _this.

This helplessness.

Really, he should leave. The doctors said the surgery would take at least four hours to do and there was no point of him staying. He could not heal Dean, he could not lessen the pain. Dean was not in any real danger of death, Cas _knew _this but for reasons he could not fathom, he could not leave the hospital till he was _sure._

He sat in the waiting area, his back stiff, his eyes locked on some blank wall. Time here seemed to move that much slowly, every second a lifetime to him. He didn't understand how that was possible and yet it was.

Sam seemed to have a better time with the anxiousness. He was reading one of the numerous magazines available in the waiting room, occasionally looking up at the clock. He left a few times, to the bathroom or to call Bobby on updates.

Castiel fidgeted. He couldn't keep his hands still, no matter what he did. He clasped them, shoved them into the pockets of his coat, ran his hand through his hair a couple dozen times. He felt if he could keep his hands occupied, then maybe the rest of his body would follow. He had to _fight _to keep his knee from twitching.

A cup of coffee comes into Castiel's view. He looked up to see Sam offering it to him. "I don't need-"

"It'll help," he intoned. "Trust me."

Castiel took the cup, curling his hands around it. The heat seeped through and it's a welcoming feeling in this overly air conditioned hospital. Though the tension has yet to leave his body, at least his hands stopped moving. "Thank you," he said to Sam. He meant it.

Sam then took the seat next to him. They don't talk and Castiel is okay with that. The coffee is horribly bitter but the caffeine and warmth took some of tension out of his body.

()

He will not die from this wound. But that did not mean he felt good.

Castiel slumped against the alley wall, feeling blood soak through his already wet shirt. He tried shifting again and failed. He was too tired to manage even that. He felt slightly disgusted by his lack of strength.

With a groan, Cas slid down to the ground, the body betraying him. He needed to rest, to gather his energy. He looked around and sensed no evil. This place was good as it was going to get and he closed his eyes.

He slept.

Castiel wasn't used to sleeping and when he woke a few hours later, he was surprised to found he had slumped to the ground. His whole right shoulder was sore from resting against the cold ground. What surprised him more, more than waking in an alley, was to find a dog resting against him.

It was a yellow Labrador, its fur brown from dirt and grime. The dog had managed to snuggle underneath Cas' right arm, pressing his body against the angel's chest. When it noticed Castiel had woken, it moved its muzzle closer to his face and gave him two solitary licks.

Castiel instinctively jerked from the sudden kiss, though did not move away from the body. The dog was warm compared to the alley.

Slowly, unknowingly, he moved his hand over the dog's belly. This was of Jimmy Novak's doing; the human loved dogs.

The dog grunted and moved closer to the touch. Sensing the dog's enjoyment, Castiel continued to pet him. His vessel took equal comfort from the warm fur, the familiar sense echoing inside of him.

His injury soon healed and dislodged himself from the creature. He stood and the dog stood with him, its tail up in anticipation.

Castiel didn't know what to say to him, other than "Thank you."

He turned and disappeared from sight.

()

A hand grasped Dean's wrist. "Don't leave me here."

The hunter almost rolled his eyes. "Cas, I know this isn't the ideal place to hide, but until we know what's hunting you, the safest place is here."

Castiel's voice got lower and said very seriously, "They look as if they want to eat me."

Dean looked up at the three individuals. Ed, Harry, and Maggie were all staring at Castiel from their spot in the kitchen. The Ghostfacers apparently didn't know the meaning of tact. Dean winced internally. "You'll be fine," he told the angel.

Castiel glared at him.

The Winchesters were not one to gush, and even Sam got over his enthusiasm from meeting Castiel fairly quickly. Cas had never been on the receiving end of pointed stares and dropped jaws, and frankly after twenty minutes of it, he started to feel… weird.

It was the sister who broke the silence first. "So… you're really an angel?"

Castiel blinked at her. Didn't Sam and Dean explain the situation? "Yes."

"Wow," she breathed. "That's… that's so cool. Can I have your autograph?"

"My what?"

"Maggie," Ed suddenly stepped forward, pulling her aside. "You just can't go asking an angel for his _autograph."_

"Why not?" She protested.

"He's an angel!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Oh!" She turned back to Castiel, covering her mouth in shame. "Sorry. I didn't mean to curse."

Castiel shook his head. "I don't mind."

Maggie turned back to her brother. "See? He doesn't mind."

"Where are your wings?" Harry suddenly spoke up from the side. The question was innocent enough, but the scowl he was shooting at Castiel wasn't. "I thought angels had wings."

"We do. But it takes energy to materialize them here on Earth."

"Or maybe you're not an angel at all."

"Harry! What is your problem?"

Harry merely mumbled something and turned away. Castiel heard it anyways. "Pretty boy?"

Ed suddenly snorted. Maggie gaped at Castiel before turning to Harry. "I can't believe you." She chastised. "You're jealous?"

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

Suddenly Castiel could feel a headache coming on. At least when the Winchesters bickered, they added a few more syllables.

"Are too," Maggie finished and turned to face Cas. "Are you thirsty?"

Thus began the series of questions that never seemed to end.

"Can you really fly?"

"Have you ever seen Dr. Who?"

"What does your true voice sound like?"

"Aren't the Winchesters douchebags?"

"Are there really aliens?"

Castiel tried to answer their questions as best as he could. Like Dean, most of what they say went over his head and he spent just as much time asking _them _questions, to rectify what they mean. He jumped by their shocked reaction when he answered one of their questions.

"_You've never seen Star Wars?"_

What happened next was a series of fast movements. Maggie pushed him into the living room while Harry turned on the DVD player and Ed quickly went into the kitchen to make popcorn. For the next three hours, all three of them enthusiastically go over the plot, trivia, act out certain scenes, eat popcorn, throw popcorn, and had a very long debate if whether or not Luke slept with Leya.

They didn't ignore Castiel during the whole thing. He had no idea how he transformed from awe-inspiring angel to fellow nerd. When he brought up the subject that Star Wars very much reflected their lives, this spurred another long debate, with Cas being the mediator.

It was… odd. Castiel knew their conversations were pointless and frankly, a little embarrassing, but he found himself being engaged in their talks. It was, as Dean sometime said it, pointless fun.

When the Winchesters picked him up the next day, Ed gave him their business card, telling him he could call them at any time.

Castiel knows he won't- he is far too busy to bother with such trivial things, but he doesn't throw the card away.

()

A/N: I wrote this way before I heard of the rumor that Cas was supposed to be on a Ghostfacer episode, but because SPN got picked for a sixth season, they decided to keep it under wraps. Apparently, only people in the London Con got to see it.

I am sad.

R/R, peeps.


End file.
